Mark 14:51,52
And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Some have thought he was a young man of the house where Christ and His disciples ate their Passover; who had followed Him to the garden, and still followed Him, to see what would be the issue of things: but it seems most likely, he was one that lived in an house near the garden; who, being awaked out of sleep with the noise of a band of soldiers, and others with them, leaped out of bed, and ran out in his shirt, and followed after them, to know what was the matter: “having a linen cloth cast about his naked body;” which was either his shirt in which he lay, or one of the sheets, which he took and wrapped himself in, not staying to put on his clothes.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): It was done in haste, and without due consideration.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): This was quite in keeping with Mark’s general character. We gather his character partly from the Book which he has written—the Gospel of Mark is the most impulsive of all the Gospels. The word eutheos, translated, “straightway,” “forthwith,” “immediately,” is used a very great number of times by this evangelist.
THE EDITOR: He uses the word “straightway,” nineteen times, and “immediately,” seventeen times.
C. H. SPURGEON: Mark is a man who does everything straightway—he is full of impulse, dash, fire, flash—the thing must be done, and done at once.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): It is probable the young man had some attachment to Christ, and hearing the tumult by night, not stopping to put on his clothes, and covered only with a linen garment, came to discover their traps, or at least that he might not be wanting in a duty of friendship.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): He must be understood to have been a disciple of Jesus, or he needed not to have been afraid.
WILLIAM KELLY (1821-1906): Mark started from a good home.
THE EDITOR: Mark’s mother was a believer; likely his father was also, before he died, given what Jesus had told Peter and John to say to the “goodman,” when they requested the upper room. But was Mark was converted at this time? More likely, his conversion occurred later, through Peter’s ministry. So, what do we have? An impulsive young man from a good Christian home, aroused from his bed, and naked but for a nightshirt, following after Jesus to Gethsemane. But why?
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): The Bible does not tell us.
THE EDITOR: Not specifically. But maybe it does, if we reason from what details the Bible does provide. “With desire,” Jesus wanted to observe the Passover with His beloved disciples, undisturbed, Luke 22:15; therefore He concealed the location, so Judas had no chance to organize prior arrangements to betray Him. But after observing the Passover, Satan entered into Judas, and Jesus said, “That thou doest, do quickly,” John 13:27. Why did Christ say that?
J. C. RYLE: The full meaning and purport of this solemn saying is not easy to define—we can only conjecture about it.
THE EDITOR: Judas “went immediately out, and it was night,” John 13:30. Since he had no pre-arranged plans, the chief priests and Pharisees could not know that Judas was coming; it being night, they were in their own homes. Jesus knew what they had to do. Quickly, they must gather themselves together, decide to act, and dispatch a band of men to return with Judas to arrest Him. Think about what happened. Jesus knew there was time to institute the Lord’s Supper; and time for a long profound conversation with His disciples, John chapters 14-16. Then He prayed, John 17. They sang a hymn; then, before Judas could return, they left for Gethsemane; and Jesus warned His disciples that they would desert Him, Mark 14:26-31.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “He went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples,” John 18:1. In crossing the brook Cedron, accompanied by His disciples, an Old Testament type was most strikingly fulfilled. In 2 Samuel 15:1-37 we read of David, at the time of his shameful betrayal by his friend Ahithophel, crossing the same brook in tears, accompanied by his faithful followers. So David’s Son and Lord, crossed the Cedron while Judas was betraying Him…Christ’s object was to afford His enemies more free scope to take Him—where they might have full opportunity to apprehend Him, and carry Him away in the night, quietly and secretly. In addition, His arrest in the Garden made it easier for His disciples to escape.
THE EDITOR: It was but a fifteen minute walk to Gethsemane. Yet Jesus still had time for three agonizing sessions of private prayer, returning occasionally to reprove His disciples, who couldn’t stay awake; it was now very late. Meanwhile, Judas returns to Mark’s house. Mark and his parents are in bed, but a loud hammering on the door awakens them to see Judas with a mob carrying swords and torches. Mark stands nervously behind his parents, wearing only his white linen nightshirt. “Where’s Jesus?” is the impatient demand. “He’s not here,” says the goodman, “They’ve all gone; I don’t know where.” “I know,” Judas tells his men, “they’ve gone to Gethsemane.” “Judas knew the place, for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples,” John 18:3. The men rush off; and now, impulsively, Mark decides to run to Gethsemane and warn Jesus.
C. H. SPURGEON: Once more, the known life of Mark tends to make it very probable that he would do such a thing. Mark does not wait to robe himself, but, just as he is, he dashes out.
THE EDITOR: There’s no time to waste. He slips out his bedroom window, or a back door, unknown to his parents—they’d only try to stop him. What mother would let her teenager run out half-dressed like that?
But Mark is too late; in Gethsemane, Judas and his band of men have already confronted Jesus and His disciples. Fearfully, he hangs back, out of their torchlight, watching. And what does he see? All of Christ’s disciples forsaking Jesus and fleeing—men he probably admired and respected. Now Mark gets another sudden impulse of youthful bravado: ‘they all ran—but I’ll follow and see what happens; then I’ll tell the disciples. And I will be a hero.’
However, he follows too close. When the moonlight, or torchlight, flashes on his white linen nightshirt, Mark is spotted—not by soldiers, nor any principle Jews like Malchus, the high priest’s servant, but by the “young men,”—‘the wanna-be’ up and comers at the tail end of the mob, and they lay hold of him. Though Mark’s courage fails, characteristically he still reacts quickly, slipping out of his nightshirt and escaping out of their hands. Later, those young ‘wanna-be’s don’t want to broadcast their dismal embarrassing failure to anyone. Nor, after running home naked, and sneaking back into his bedroom, does an ashamed Mark want it known, especially not by his parents.
No other chain of events adequately explains how Mark could be in the Garden that night, dressed as he was; and why nobody else knew about it—except maybe Peter, who was following “afar off.” And that raises some other considerations for next week.
